Ministers will publish a "prospectus" on garden cities allowing
local councils to start developing plans for new towns across the country,
the Chancellor says

A new generation of garden cities could be built in Britain to help solve the housing crisis, George Osborne has indicated.

The Chancellor used his Budget to confirm that the Government will build the first new garden city for 100 years in Ebbsfleet in Kent.

However, Mr Osborne also said that the Government will also publish a “prospectus” on new towns that could lead to the creation of more garden cities across the country.

A secret report on garden cities has in recent months been at the centre of a Coalition row over the Government’s housing strategy.

It has languished in a Whitehall office since it was written over fears that the creation of new cities could lead to Labour voters moving into safe shire constituencies, diluting traditional Tory support.

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, has been demanding for months that the Tories publish the prospectus.

Government sources insisted that the report announced by Mr Osborne is new and is not the one the Liberal Democrats have been demanding ministers release.

In his Budget statement the Chancellor said: “In the South East where pressure is greatest we’re going to… build the first new garden city in almost a hundred years at Ebbsfleet.”

“We’re going to build 15,000 homes there, put in the infrastructure, set up the development corporation and make it happen.”

He added: “And we will be publishing a prospectus on the future of garden cities. Taken all together, the housing policies I announce will support over 200,000 new homes for families. We’re getting Britain building.”

According to the Treasury the prospectus will be published by Easter and will set out “how local authorities could develop their own, locally-led proposals for bringing forward new garden cities”.

Mr Osborne also announced that the government will extend the Help-to-Buy scheme for newly built houses until 2020.

The Chancellor has faced embarrassment over the Ebbsfleet garden city announcement after a report by the Environment Agency emerged which warned that the area is at risk of severe flooding.

The Treasury has said that it will make £200million of infrastructure funding available for the Ebbsfleet project.